


[Un]Breakable

by inkbadger



Series: Broken Wings [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is space mom with Pidge, Angst, Ask and ye shall receive, Bonding moments left right and center, Coran will end you if you hurt his space children, Depressed Lance, Fluff, Heavy Angst, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I can promise that we get a happy ending if that's any consolation?, Keith has anxiety, M/M, Matt is a human disaster but we love him anyway, No one asks, Pidge and Hunk have a thing that No One Talks About, Pidge will probably be right behind him honestly, Platonic Lance/Everyone, Platonic Shiro/Everyone, Prosthetics, Sentient Lions, Shiro and Lance finally admitted their damn feelings, Shiro has PTSD, Some graphic depictions of violence the deeper we go, Violence, Wingfic, You Have Been Warned, anxious lance, flock dynamics, how?, i mean like, lance has ptsd, mindmelding, paladin bonds, some kidnapping, team punk, toothrotting fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 21:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17691677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkbadger/pseuds/inkbadger
Summary: "That's-""Those are our families." Pidge breathed, staring in horror at the images that projected onto the screen next. "Lotor has our families."or-Shiro and Lance are gay disasters, Team Punk have a certified Bonding Moment, and then it all goes to shit thanks to Lotor.Seriously, screw that guy.





	[Un]Breakable

**Author's Note:**

> Ladies and Gentlemen, Non-binaries and In-betweens! Welcome to the utter chaos that is the third and final (well, 'official') installment of Broken Wings! If you're new here, feel free to check out the first and second works in the series before coming back. 
> 
> Trust me, you'll thank me later. 
> 
> (Or maybe not, there's some incontinuities in there. Also a LOT of angst.)
> 
> You've been warned~

_The ship creaks as it settles into the ground of whatever planet it crashed into, faint emergency lights blinking eerily and setting shadows dancing along the abandoned walls. Something low and wet dripped from somewhere in the dark bowels of the ship, indicating a breach from the conditions outside._

_Dim blue lights illuminated the metal cockpit, stretching across to the broad console that faced outward. The crash had caused the hull to burrow deeply into the earth, allowing no external light to enter the eerily quiet machine._

_A video played on the display. The quality was reminiscent of a VHS tape that had perhaps been taped over one too many times. Lines of intermittent static stretched across the screen, the audio the only thing that seemed to be undamaged._

_“Hey, everyone.”_

_The faintly smiling face of a young man, dark hair long and framing his too-mature features appeared, blue eyes tired as he stared into the camera. He chuckled faintly, running a hand through his hair and glancing away for a moment. “I know, Blue. Just give me a sec.”_

_He inhaled deeply, nodding as if in assurance to himself before looking the camera directly once again._

_“So. As you can probably see, I’m alive. I don’t know what kind of crap that Iverson or the Garrison tried to feed you, but they’re wrong. About Kerberos, about me and my team that went “missing”-“_

_He quirked his fingers in a quotation with the hand in view of the screen, rolling his eyes-_

_The video turned to static for a long moment. When it returned, it was mid-sentence._

_“-ouldn’t believe some of the things we’ve seen out here in space. Turns out, there’s a pretty big war going on that Earth doesn’t know a damn thing about. All of us- Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, Keith and I… we’re all paladins of a universal guardian called Voltron. And Matt, I guess, even though he doesn’t pilot a lion. Hey Blue, you ever think that an extra lion would have been helpful?“_

_The video cut out into static._

* * *

 

 

Nesting as a group was still mildly uncomfortable to wake to, despite having done so for the last several weeks. Then again, considering Lance’s aversion to it for so long, it was hardly a surprise that he was usually the first to extract himself and begin his day.

However, a rather firm grip from his sleeping partner was enough to deter his efforts.

Sighing, he shifted, somehow managing to twist himself so that Shiro was no longer spooning him and instead facing him without the other man so much as stirring. A bit of a feat, if you took into consideration how lightly that both Lance and Shiro slept. Hypervigilance at its finest, Matt took great pleasure in telling them.

(To be fair, Matt was just as bad as they were, so they let it slide.)

But mornings like this were quickly becoming Lance’s favorite thing. During the evenings, the flock gathered in the main living space, the indented floor the perfect space for an impromptu nest and/or blanket fort. Depending on who got there first, sometimes it would be a combination or one of the two.

Coran had taken it upon himself to begin regaling the paladins with stories from the prior generation- something about “carrying on legacies” muttered under his breath and passed along by a wary Hunk one night as he brought in the nesting materials. Some of the tales were interesting, giving insight to the paladins of old. Others, certainly not so much- there were several of Zarkon while he was still just the king of his own planet tripping over his feet for an Altean chemist who would later become his wife.

Those tales tended to be short and to the point. Lance suspected it was to be courteous to those present who had had some particularly foul interactions with them.

(Not to point fingers at himself or Shiro or anything, no.)

Up close like this, Shiro was soft. The hard edges that usually lined his jaw were relaxed in sleep, the deep furrows between his brows slack. Granted, he did tend to furrow them and make some quite frankly _adorable_ sounds in his sleep, but that was unrelated.  

His wings spread over the both of them like a thick blanket, shielding the pair from prying eyes- _Pidge_ \- and the camera that she, Hunk and Matt had built at some point in the not so distant past. Since they were now clearly an item, every single person on the ship seemed to make it their business to be as sappy as was humanly possible in order to wish them well. Which didn’t particularly make sense to Lance, because he and Shiro were the ones who should be sappy, but who was he to judge when everyone else was just latching onto what small joys they could while they tried to hunt down Lotor’s whereabouts.

Lance huffed out a short breath, carefully lifting his prosthetic hand to trace the shape of Shiro’s face, gently rubbing his thumb over the small bumps, scars, and pockmarks that lined the black paladin’s jaw before leaning in to press a quick kiss to the tip of his nose.

Shiro made a sleepy rumble in the back of his throat, grip tightening around Lance as his muscles automatically flexed and stretched under his skin, and _ladies and gentlemen, Lance’s brain has left the building because this man is precious when he’s waking up from a decent night’s rest._

“Morning.” Lance murmurs, chancing a glance out between the feathers to see that they are, indeed, the first ones awake. Keith stirs at the far edge of the nest, but otherwise his grip is fairly solid on Matt’s leg, his lower half completely splayed out across Hunk. How he could possibly be comfortable in such a position is beyond him, but the closer they get, the less embarrassment they have when they wake up in a strange game of “where the hell is my foot and why do you smell like cheese” the following morning.

“Morning.” Shiro grunts, one eye prying itself open to stare sleepily at Lance. He can imagine how absolutely gone he looks, knowing full well how sappy his smile must look considering the lazy smile that curls Shiro’s lips in return. The beginnings of stubble are starting to poke through the skin- Lance imagines that he probably looks the same at the moment, but he settled for instead leaning his forehead under Shiro’s jaw and sighing contentedly. “Sleep well?”

“Better than usual.” Lance admitted, rolling his prosthetic. “Little sore in the shoulder, but I think your wing was crushing it last night.”

“Pretty sure that was Pidge, actually.” Shiro snorts, nodding over Lance’s shoulder at the suspiciously Pidge shaped blanket burrito that had been tucked against Lance for most of the night. “I almost want to check if she’s breathing, but I’d like to keep the arm that still works.”

“Fair.” Lance hums, wrapping the arm not currently trapped under him around Shiro, minding the sensitive feathers with the prosthetic joints.

Feathers and prosthetics did not get along well, and they did not speak of The Incident in question.

His chest has been feeling pretty light as of late- in part due to taking care of the extreme touch deprivation that Pidge claimed he’d put himself into. Also due to some of the scarring from the brandings Haggar had left on him fading. Coran and Team Punk had done some tinkering with a healing pod to see if they would be able to take care of specific scarring, and thank whatever God was watching them, they’d done it. It was still faulty as hell, and there were a couple scars that were remnants from some interesting escapades as a kid that had also been zapped around his shoulders from his brief stint in a pod, but for the most part, it did work.

Given that Lance still did not do well in confined spaces, the pod was likely to be a one-time thing for the near future.

“Ready for a big day of training and drills?” Shiro asked, untangling his arms from Lance so that he could stretch more fully, wings doing much the same before relaxing again.

“I really hope that was sarcasm.” Lance deadpanned, staring his heart-mate dead in the eye. “Because if it wasn’t, I’m going to get up and go find something to eat. Preferably after I shower.”

Shiro offered him a cheeky grin.

“I’m leaving.”

“Nooo…” Shiro whined as Lance wriggled free, nudging Pidge closer as he did so and blowing a kiss towards Shiro’s pouting form in the nest as he went in search of some form of sustenance.

 

* * *

 

 

_The video resumed playing, a sheepish grin on the man’s features as he offered a wave to the camera._

_“Sorry about that. I had to sort out a theoretical conversation with Blue about having a couple extra lions around in case of emergencies. I don’t think I won that round, though. She’s awful smug about it.”_

_As if to prove the point, a low rumbling purr echoed around the cockpit. The man rolled his eyes, fond exasperation in his tone as he turned away again, some other tongue leaving his lips before he refocused again. The smile vanished as he leaned forward, the shadows behind him creating a painting of dark blues and greys against the metal walls._

_“Look. Considering that I don’t know if you’ll ever see this, I need to get some things off my chest. Since I’m literally millions of miles away, I hope that you never have to see the shit that we have, so I’m going to give you an apology. I get that none of us have really gotten along or been close since…”_

_He trailed off, looking away and swallowing heavily. Composure gathered, he turned back to the screen, features sad. “-since Mama passed away. And I get that it wasn’t my fault, but to this day, it feels like it is. Pidge keeps telling me I have some kind of complex that I just beat myself up over things that I shouldn’t, but hey. Depression will do that to a guy, I guess._

_I need you all to know that I am so, so sorry for everything about that day. I don’t remember a lot of it, but I remember enough to know that it was my fault that everyone was fighting. And I’m sorry I couldn’t be there when abuela passed away. I’m sorry that I made everyone so angry when I decided to leave to go to the Garrison. I’m sorry for a lot of things. And even though my girl’s got some pretty impressive tech, I don’t think she’d have enough storage for all the apologies I have for you._

_What I mean to say is… at the end of the day, we’re flock. And since coming up here, I think I’ve gotten a little better at realizing what I had.”_

_The video cut again, but the audio continued._

_“I hope that one day, I can come home. But I’ve seen some things up here. Done things I’m not proud of. Had to kill people. Some of them were probably innocents. And I hope to God or whoever is out there that I may earn your forgiveness. And if I can’t… that’s okay too.”_

* * *

 

 

“Okay. So today, Allura and I have decided that we want to try the trust exercises that we had to do when we first got up here.” Shiro announced as everyone stood in the training deck. “The invisible maze, the gladiator training, the whole nine yards. But,” He paused, fixing them all with a firm gaze, “If anyone is feeling unsettled or uncomfortable, I want you to tell us to stop _immediately_.”

The last word seemed to be directed at Keith, and it took Lance a moment before he realized why. Keith had been beaten with electrified rods while being interrogated by Lotor’s henchmen. His anxiety would probably still be pretty high about anything sparky and electric for a long while.

So would Lance’s, actually, considering his last encounter with electricity had almost led to his death.

Good times, good times.

“Alright then. If there’s nothing else we need to do, let’s get to work, team. Lance, Keith. You’ll be up first on the maze. Hunk, you’ll be with Pidge, and I’ll go with Pidge after that.”

“Alrighty. No biggie, right Keith?”

Keith snorted, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms. His iridescent black wings had been preened to perfection the night before and quivered with the usual tension that Keith somehow managed to keep powering them with. (that reference had come about after several glasses of nunvil and an embarrassing number of memes one night, and it had not been spoken into the light of day since.)

“I’ll go first if that’s cool with you.” He followed up with, trying not to think about the rather sharp electric shock that would be awaiting him if he managed to walk into an invisible wall. Most of his flashbacks were getting somewhat easier to deal with, figuring what triggered particular ones and how to avoid starting others. But electricity was one that would bother him for the rest of his life, he was certain of it.

“Alright. See you on the other side.”

“Ominous.”

“It’ll be fine. We’ll be on the other side.” Hunk assured him, patting his shoulder, broad dappled wing shifting to brush against his own. “Just focus and everything will be fine.”

“And if Matt laughs, I promise to punch him later.” Pidge beamed, shooting a glance up to the control room where Allura, Coran, Matt and now Keith were taking their places.

“Thanks, Pidge.”

“No worries. It’s what we do.” She shrugged, flapping her tawny barn owl wings to gain some ground and glide over to where Shiro was already waiting. Lucky she was still growing into her not-so-downy wings- otherwise she likely would have bowled over the head of Voltron and caused quite the scene.

“Alright Keith, let’s go.” Lance gave him the thumbs up, taking a deep breath and shifting his weight on his feet as the maze sprung up for a moment in front of him before shimmering and vanishing from sight. He could see the group on the other side of the room, knew they were at the exit, but had no idea what was waiting for him between point A and point B.

“Take two steps ahead, one step to the left.”

“All about trust.” Lance breathed to himself, putting one foot in front of the other.

It was the quickest he’d ever made it through the maze.

 

* * *

 

_The next clip that appeared on the screen was dated later, obvious by the lack of civilian clothing and the bloody presence of a large wound on the side of the young man’s jaw. It steadily dripped onto the white armor that he now wore, slowly sliding down with sickening slowness. The cockpit was rattling around him, but he looked determined as he yanked back on the controls, grunting as something slammed into the ship, everything whirling dizzily for several long moments before righting itself once again._

_“Come on, baby girl.” He muttered, reaching to tap a screen out of sight and sighing as a light came on in response. “You’re sure this is recording? Okay? Alright.”_

_He coughed wetly into an elbow, a metal hand coming into the frame, pale blue bands decorating what little of the wrist that was visible._

_“Ow. Definitely going to feel that one tomorrow.” He groaned, leaning back in his chair for a moment. “So as you can probably tell, things aren’t going too well for me right now. Blue thought it would be a good idea to make one more video just in case something happens.”_

_A tinny alarm blared from somewhere to the right of the camera._

_“Lotor has you. Or he did, and now we’re walking right into another trap. You wouldn’t believe how many of those we get into on these damn missions.”_

_An uncharacteristically sour expression crosses his lips as he glares at a point just above the camera._

_“If I don’t manage to find you, I know that Blue will. Somehow, she’ll find you. Or you’ll find her. It wouldn’t surprise me if Lotor wanted to play some kind of game with my girl… but that’s not the point._

_I hope that all of you know how much that I love all of you. And if I don’t make it… I want you to know that I did everything that I could to make sure that you get to go back to Earth.”_

_His voice thickened as he let out a choked sob, rubbing his eyes as another rattle shook the cockpit._

_“And I hope you can forgive me for what I might have to do to come home. Can forgive me for what I’ve become if I do.”_

_There was a rattling rumble as something exploded, the lights in the cockpit dimming as metal creaked and glowed a bright white. The video paused, the static across the screen warping on the young man, his features frozen in a permanent expression of grief._

_And then the lights went out completely._

 


End file.
